Saturday, July 29, 2017

The Lessons of the Health Care Repeal Failure: It Sucks being an Adult

Scores of lessons are to be had from the failure of Trump and the Republicans to repeal the
Affordable Care Act (ACA or Obamacare). One of the most important is that governance is hard, or that it really does suck when you are in charge and have to be an adult. This is the alternative reality that both Trump and the Republicans live in, and it is not clear they have learned anything from their mistakes...and it is also not clear that the Democrats have either.Obamacare is flawed and it needs to be fixed. It failed to do much when it came to the overall cost curve facing health care in the US (as a percentage of the GDP) and it created premium problems for those who made too much to qualify for subsidies but who were not employed or rich enough to afford to buy their own insurance. Many of these individuals were Trump supporters–the individuals left behind by the changes in the American economy over the last generation and which neither political party helped.However, the Republican goal in repealing Obamacare was never about fixing it. The same was truth with Trump. If there was one defining or uniting goal of the Republicans in the 50+ times they voted to repeal the ACA when they knew Obama would veto it, it was that they wanted to obliterate the president’s signature accomplishment simply to deny him a political success. The same is true for Trump. It was never about the flaws in the ACA, having a better plan, or even something as noble or principled as ideological belief in free markets and less government, it was simply to play politics, mobilize a hostile Republican base, and simply negate Obama’s legacy. In Trump’s first six months as president, the few accomplishments he has had have all been aimed at erasing the Obama legacy. Cancelling the Trans Pacific Partnership, railing against the Iran Nuclear Deal, banning transgender from the military, and arguing that the 1964 Civil Rights Act does not extend to sexual orientation, all had that singular focus. There was no alternative theory, policy agenda, or grand plan regarding what to do. The narrative was entirely negative. All this works, perhaps, when in opposition, but not as a prescription for governance.Many will point to the divisions between moderate and conservatives within the Republican Party as the reason why the ACA repeal failed. There is some truth to that. But in general, the GOP and Trump lack a governing agenda and vision for what they wish to accomplish. In addition, there is a lack of leadership from Trump down to McConnell and Ryan. Real leadership, as presidential historian James MacGregor Burns defines it, is authority guided by principle. Neither Trump nor GOP leadership displays that. This leadership is about respecting the Constitution, its procedures and rules, it is about understanding checks and balances and separation of powers. None of this is understood, especially by Trump. He still thinks he is a CEO and not the president. His first six months in office demonstrate a startling ignorance of what it means to govern and there is no indication that he has learned any lessons from his failures. He thinks, as in the case of a tweet saying transgender are barred from the military–that such pronouncements are governance and binding as law or policy.The failure to repeal the ACA is a crisis of leadership in many ways. It was Trump who never had a vision for what he wanted thinking that the art of the deal was s imply threatening and blustering others around. He never understood how to negotiate. Moreover, when push came to shove, his misogynist statements about women and saying prisoners of war were not real heroes perhaps came back to hurt him when Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and John McCain voted no. They had good reasons to oppose the ACA repeal bills, but how much was payback we shall never know. But for the other Republicans who voted against the repeal, they were among the few adults in the Party who saw the consequences of what the bill would do. However, for the 49 Senate Republicans who voted for repeal, they still failed to appreciate or care about how what they did would hurt not just Americans in general, but their own constituents. The infighting in the Trump presidency is further proof of a lack of leadership. Lacking leadership, everyone is going in their own direction and for their own interests. No one seems to have loyalty to anyone, and that includes Trump. The lesson if at all Trump learns from his failures is that others are to blame and that the Apprentice solution–“You’re fired”–is the solution. Alea iacta est–the die is cast on this administration and there is no sense that things will get any better. No one seems to be growing up, taking responsibility, acting like an adult because, frankly, that sucks for this administration.But the Democrats should not be so gleeful. They seem in the Trump and GOP failures a 2018 success, but that approach of thinking Republican ineptness as the road to power is what cost them their leadership. Faintly the Democrats realize that, trotting out a meaningless promise of a “Better Deal,” a narrative devoid of real substance and policy. Democrats yet again seem to think that being “Republican Lite” is their salvation, instead of their problem.The lessons of the ACA repeal failure demonstrate that it is hard being in charge. Governance and leadership ask people to be adults who care about others, who care about the country, and who are capable of looking beyond simple personal self-interest and partisan advantage. Right now, it is not clear that there are many elected officials in Washington who gets that.

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About Me

Professor in the political science department at Hamline University where he teaches classes in American politics, public policy and administration, and ethics.
Schultz holds an appointment at the University of Minnesota law school and teaches election law, state constitutional law, and professional responsibility.
He has authored/edited 30 books, 12 legal treatises, and more than 100 articles on topics including civil service reform, election law, eminent domain, constitutional law, public policy, legal and political theory, and the media and politics.
In addition to 25+ years teaching, he has worked in government as a director of code enforcement and for a community action agency as an economic and housing planner.